A census undercount hurts New Mexico

Any disruption of the 2020 census is bad for New Mexico and the country. Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the nation is required to conduct a count of all residents every 10 years. Those population counts are used to apportion political representation and federal funds, with some $800 billion a year flowing to states and cities based on census numbers.

Already, the count has been troubled because of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Many have been too distracted to answer questions, and just as census workers are preparing to go door to door and find people who have not responded, they must do so when folks are isolating themselves.

Now, instead of giving census workers more time to do this important job, the Trump administration wants to wrap things up a month early. The count must be finished by Sept. 30, not the end of October as planned.

That means many will be left out — and that includes a lot of New Mexico, where people living in rural areas and on tribal reservations already are hard to reach.

The lack of internet service in many areas especially has caused New Mexico to lag behind in responses, with 53 percent of New Mexico households participating so far. The response among Native tribes in the state is even worse, around 33 percent. Again, lack of connectivity impacts the ability to participate in a census being conducted online. The agency also does not send materials to post office boxes, which impacts tribal and other rural residents.

With COVID-19 impacting tribal communities, many areas have been closed down; it’s difficult to do outreach when a pueblo or reservation is shut off to nontribal members.

Not being counted costs money, with every person missed adding up to $3,700 annually the state will lose. When lines are redrawn for congressional districts, a process based on census population numbers, areas without all their residents counted will not receive the representation they deserve.

Former Census Bureau Director John Thompson told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in written testimony that without personal contact, the agency likely would rely on statistical methods to figure out information about people living in households that can’t be reached.

“The end result would be [overrepresentation] for the White non-Hispanic population and greater undercounts for all other populations including the traditionally hardto-count,” Thompson wrote.

And considering New Mexico is one of the most difficult-to-count states, this latest change directly attacks our state.

Getting the Trump administration to reverse course is seldom easy, but the stakes for an accurate census are so high that our governor and congressional delegation must object in the strongest possible terms. We’re sure they will not be alone.

While objections are raised — Congress should lead the way in speaking out — we in New Mexico still must do all we can to be counted. With our future on the line, D.C. bureaucrats and politicians cannot be allowed to stand in the way.